Linz, 2016. “Sonic Wildness”, Ars Electronica Festival.
People enter a room — and stop.
Not because they see something beautiful.
Because they feel something they cannot quite name.
Sound that feels like a touch.
Movement that transforms emotion.
A space that responds.
We looked at each other and thought the only thing that mattered in that moment:
“It works.”
The one question that never left us.
It didn’t start with a business plan.
Not with an investor.
Not even with a clear idea.
There was just that one big question — one that drove us and kept us awake at night:
What if sound in space was no longer a backdrop, but the medium itself?
What if every movement a person makes changes what they hear?
We are Uli Dziallas and Steffen Armbruster, the founders of usomo. Steffen’s background lies in the world of media scenography. For almost two decades, he has been creating immersive spaces using light, projection and interaction. Across the world. Alongside some of the most renowned experience designers of our time. Always in search of new possibilities.
And over and over, we asked ourselves the same question: What about sound? What about music? Why is our perhaps most immediate sense – hearing – so often treated as a mere sidenote?
As accompaniment. As atmosphere. As decoration.
This question kept haunting us.
We searched for a system that could turn sound into an independent spatial medium. We couldn’t find one. So we developed it ourselves.
Two decisions proved to be fundamental. Headphones — so that every individual has their own unique experience.
And a tracking system in order for the space to know where that person is located.
The name was born more or less by coincidence. And at the same time, it still perfectly describes what usomo creates. Steffen was sitting in a dentist’s waiting room. Headphones on. Music playing. And suddenly, there it was:
unique sonic moments
Three words that became both – a name and a promise. Because that is exactly what usomo is all about to this day:
Creating unique moments through sound that moves people.
And the story began.
Two years later, we were standing in Linz.
What happened in that room.
The people who entered “Sonic Wildness” at Ars Electronica Festival in 2016 had no idea what to expect. And that is exactly what we wanted.
No instructions.
No explanation.
Just the experience.
You moved, and the sound changed.
You stood still, and you heard something nobody else could hear.
You closed your eyes, and you started to perceive the space with your entire body.
One woman had tears in her eyes.
A man burst out laughing — surprised by himself.
Many people were simply left speechless.
To this day, this is our favourite feedback.
What has happened since then.
What followed was beyond anything we could have imagined.
An idea turned into physical spaces. Physical spaces turned into experiences. And experiences have become a new medium. Today, we have completed more than 50 realized projects – exhibitions, festivals, permanent installations and immersive spaces across Europe and beyond.
Every place is different.
Every story is different.
Every moment is unique.
And at the same time they are connected by the same question:
What happens when sound becomes space?
2022 Centre Pompidou, Paris and 2024 MAC/CCB Lisbon: “Evidence”
— Soundwalk Collective and Patti Smith.
Not a concert.
Not an exhibition.
Something in between.
Something that, to this day, has no real name.
And now we are writing the next chapter:
In 2026, the exhibition “The Music Is Black: A British Story” opens at the new V&A East in London, supported by Sennheiser. Hundreds of usomo systems allow the history of British music to be experienced spatially and individually like never before.
Almost ten years.
A good moment to pause and reflect.
Since its premiere at Ars Electronica Festival in 2016, more than two million people have experienced usomo.
In France, the Netherlands, Hungary and England, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Portugal and many other places.
And we have only just begun. It is not the technology that makes it special.What makes it special is the moment a person enters a space – and feels a resonance.
To be honest: Even today, that still feels a bit unreal.
Looking back on the last ten years
Looking back on the last decade, we realise that it was never about building technology.
Technology has always been just the tool.
We were interested in something else.
What happens when a space listens?
What happens when sound is no longer a backdrop but becomes the medium itself?
What happens when people don’t just see a space but experience it physically?
That is exactly where usomo came from.
Not as a product.
Not as a service.
Not as a technology platform.
But as a new medium.
An immersive audio canvas for artists.
A new dimension of storytelling. A tool for museums, institutions and cultural spaces. A new way of telling stories. We do not believe in technology for technology’s sake.
We believe that sound can become a space. That sound can touch. That movement can change emotions.
Space and movement become an entirely new sensory experience — a gateway to the world. And perhaps that is the greatest surprise of this journey:
After almost ten years, we still feel as if we are only at the beginning.
— Uli Dziallas & Steffen Armbruster
usomo — unique sonic moments
If you want to experience usomo for yourself — here are a few options:
“The Music is Black: A British Story” until january 3rd 2027 at the new V&A East at the London Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. „Freddie – The Exhibition” until 28th of February 2027 in the House of Music Hungary in Budapest, and also since 2022 the permanent exhibition „Dimensions of Sound” in the House of Music Hungary. „Udo L. wohnt im Hotel – Exklusive Einblicke in meine Panikzentrale” from 4th of June 2026 at the rock’n’popmuseum Gronau. And „Maison Gainsbourg” since 2023 as permanent exhibition in Paris.
Photo (Uli and Steffen): © Axl Jansen
